Recommendations for the Nonpharmacological Treatment of Apathy in Brain Disorders

Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T16:50:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-01-01 Motor Neurone Disease Association Apathy is a common neuropsychiatric syndrome observed across many neurocognitive and psychiatric disorders. Although there are currently no definitive standard therapies for the treatment of apathy, nonpharmacological treatment (NPT) is often considered to be at the forefront of clinical management. However, guidelines on how to select, prescribe, and administer NPT in clinical practice are lacking. Furthermore, although new Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are beginning to be employed in NPT, their role is still unclear. The objective of the present work is to provide recommendations for the use of NPT for apathy, and to discuss the role of ICT in this domain, based on opinions gathered from experts in the field. The expert panel included 20 researchers and healthcare professionals working on brain disorders and apathy. Following a standard Delphi methodology, experts answered questions via several rounds of web-surveys, and then discussed the results in a plenary meeting. The experts suggested that NPT are useful to consider as therapy for people presenting with different neurocognitive and psychiatric diseases at all stages, with evidence of apathy across domains. The presence of a therapist and/or a caregiver is important in delivering NPT effectively, but parts of the treatment may be performed by the patient alone. NPT can be delivered both in clinical settings and at home. However, while remote treatment delivery may be cost and time-effective, it should be considered with caution, and tailored based on the patient's cognitive and physical profile and living conditions. Université Côte d'Azur CoBTeK lab Association Innovation Alzheimer School of Philosophy Psychology and Language Sciences University of Edinburgh Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research University of Edinburgh Department of Psychiatry Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (imas12) Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre & CIBERSAM INRIA STARS Team Sophia Antipolis Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU) de Nice CMRR Department of Veterans Affairs VA Palo Alto Health Care System Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Stanford University School of Medicine Psychiatric Department Regional Resource Center of Old Age Psychiatry Corentin-Celton Hospital Academic Hospital West Paris AP-HP Paris Descartes University Sorbonne Paris Cité Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford OX3 9DU Department of Experimental Psychology University of Oxford Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging University of Oxford Broca Living Lab (MP) AP-HP Paris Descartes University Sorbonne Paris Cite Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences University of East Anglia Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre University of Edinburgh EA4712 Comportement et Noyaux Gris Centraux Université de Rennes1 Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO) Faculty of Medicine University of Chile Neuropsychology and Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory (LANNEC) Physiopathology Department ICBM Neuroscience and East Neuroscience Departments Faculty of Medicine University of Chile Memory and Neuropsychiatric Clinic (CMYN) Neurology Department Hospital del Salvador and Faculty of Medicine University of Chile Servicio de Neurología Departamento de Medicina Clínica Alemana-Universidad del Desarrollo Laboratório de Neurociências LIM27 Departamento e Instituto de Psiquiatria Hospital das Clínicas HCFMUSP Faculdade de Medicina Universidade de São Paulo UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Biosciences Institute Campus of Rio Claro ISTR Institute of Rehabilitation Sciences and Techniques University of Lyon 1 Specialised Alzheimer Team SSIAD Quimper IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Department of Psychiatry and Neuropsychology Maastricht University School for Mental Health and Neuroscience (MHeNs) Alzheimer Center Limburg UNESP – Universidade Estadual Paulista Biosciences Institute Campus of Rio Claro